Throwing and catching practice net

ABSTRACT

A throwing and catching practice net has a frame having left and right side tubes attached to top and bottom sections, with the left and right side tubes forming an S-shape. Netting attached to the frame has a concave shape adjacent to the bottom section and a convex shape adjacent to the top section. A stand is pivotally attached to the frame.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The field of the invention is throwing and catching nets for ball games such as baseball, softball, cricket and similar games.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Various games such as baseball, softball and cricket require throwing and catching a ball. Rebound nets have been used to allow players to practice throwing or pitching a ball, as well as catching. Typically a rebound net includes a netting material stretched across a metal frame. The netting material may have a target, to allow the player to practice pitching. The netting material is taut or elastic so that a thrown ball impacting the net rebounds off of the net. If the netting is flat, the ball will rebound on an outward trajectory which is a mirror image of the inbound trajectory. Accordingly, with flat netting unless the player throws the ball on a trajectory substantially perpendicular to the netting, the ball will rebound away from the player. Curved netting has been proposed to provide alternative rebounding characteristics. Still, engineering challenges remain in designing a versatile practice net.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A throwing and catching practice net has a frame having left and right side tubes attached to top and bottom sections, with the left and right side tubes forming an S-shape. Netting attached to the frame has a concave shape adjacent to the bottom section and a convex shape adjacent to the top section. A stand is pivotally attached to the frame.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings, the same element number indicates the same element in each of the views.

FIG. 1 is a side and front perspective view of a practice net.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the practice net shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the practice net as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the practice net in an alternative position.

FIG. 5 is a partial section view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is a partial section view taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

As shown in FIGS. 1-3, a practice net 10 has netting 50 supported on a frame 12. The netting may be made of natural or synthetic fiber materials, such as polyester or Nylon twisted, knotted or otherwise formed into a pattern of polygonal cells. In the example shown in the drawings, the cells are hexagonal. Other cell shapes such as triangle, square, pentagon and octagon may also be used. The netting 50 may be attached to the frame 12 via fittings 52 such as hooks, clips or loops. If the netting 50 has sufficient elasticity, the fittings 52 may be essentially rigid. Alternatively, if the netting in largely inelastic, the netting 50 may be attached to the frame with fittings 52 in the form of elastic loops or bands. Fittings 52 in the form of hooks may be quickly removable from the frame 12, without use of tools, for example by simply pulling the hooks away from the frame. This allows the netting 50 to be removed from the frame, so that the frame may be more easily disassembled for storage and/or transport. In some designs however, the net 10 may be disassembled without removing the netting 50.

The frame 12 may be provided as multiple sections of hollow tubes that can be assembled for use, and then disassembled for compact storage or transport. In the example shown in FIGS. 1-3, the frame includes left and right top tubes 16 releasably attached to a top section 14, and left and right bottom tubes 22 releasably attached to a bottom section 20. A stand assembly 24 may be provided as a U-shaped member pivotally attached the back of the frame 12. In the design shown, the lower end of the left and right top tubes 16, and the upper ends of the left and right bottom tubes 22, are releasably attached to left and right stand tube segments 28.

The stand tube segments 28 may be straight while the top and bottom tubes are curved. A stand hinge 30 having a back plate 32 is attached to each stand tube segment 28. The stand assembly 24 may include a stand base 38 releasably attached to the left and right stand base tubes 40. The stand base tubes 40 optionally have the same curvature as the bottom tubes 22 so that when the stand assembly is folded down the stand base tubes 40 may lie substantially flat against the bottom tubes, with the stand base 38 also flat against the bottom section 20. This design allows the net 10 be more compact when the stand assembly 24 is folded in. The tube elements forming the frame may be metal, such as steel or aluminum tubes, or non-metal such as plastic or fiberglass.

The tubes 16 and 22 may be releasably attachable to the top section 14 and the bottom section 20, respectively, as well as to the stand tubes 28, via nominally smaller diameter end segments that fit or slide into each other. The tubes may be held in place via friction. Alternatively, a spring may urge a button out through a hole at each connection, to hold adjacent tube sections together. The tube sections can be released by pressing the button in and pulling the tubes apart.

The stand assembly 24 may be folded in against the frame 12 for storage. During use the stand assembly 24 may be folded out to the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 3. The stand assembly 24 may be locked in place via a spring-driven plunger on the upper end of each stand base tube 40 extending into a clearance hole in the stand hinge 30. The stand assembly 24 may also alternatively be secured in position using fasteners, detents, clamps, pins, or other devices.

The stand assembly 24 may alternatively positioned further away from the frame 12, as shown in FIG. 4, with the stand base tubes resting against the back plate 32 of the stand hinge 30. In this position the frame 12 and the netting 50 is in a less upright position. For example, angle AA in FIG. 3 may range from 45 to 85, 55 to 75, or 60 to 70 degrees, with angle BB in FIG. 4 ranging form about 10 to 15, 20 or 25 degrees less than angle AA. Angles AA and BB may be measured from the ground or floor to a line passing through the horizontal tube of the top section 14 and the bottom section 20. Similarly, in FIG. 3 angle CC between the axis of the stand assembly 24 and a centerline of the stand tube 28 is an obtuse angle of about 100 to 120 degrees. Correspondingly in FIG. 4 angle DD as measured the same way as angle CC may be about 80 to 100 degrees.

Referring to FIGS. 1-6, the bottom tubes 22 are convex and the top tubes 16 are concave, when viewed from the front. The bottom tubes 22 have a radius of curvature RR subtending an arc of 30 to 60 or 40 to 50 degrees. The radius RR may range from 50 to 100, 60 to 90, or 70 to 80 cm. Alternatively, with the frame 20 lying on a flat surface, the bottom tubes may have a circular curvature selected to provide a maximum rise HH in FIG. 4 ranging from 8 to 20 cm as measured from the flat surface to the centerline of the tube. The top tubes 16 may have similar dimensions, with the top tubes optionally formed as a mirror image of the bottom tubes 22. The frame may be rectangular when viewed from the front, as shown in FIG. 2, with the frame having an S-shape when viewed from the side, as shown in FIG. 3. The size of the frame 12 may vary depending on intended use. The frame may have an aspect ratio of width to length of 0.5 to 1.0. As one example the frame may be 110 cm wide by 170 cm long, with an aspect ratio of 0.65.

Although providing the frame 12 in sections that may assembled and disassembled allows for compact storage, the frame 12 may optionally also be provided as a single integral unit. Similarly, instead of the frame including eight separate components (top section 14, left and right top tubes 16, left and right stand tubes 28, left and right bottom tubes 22, and a bottom section 20), the frame may alternatively comprise a U-shaped top section attachable to a U-shaped bottom section, with the stand assembly 24 permanently or removably attached to either, in a two or three piece design.

The sides of the netting 50 are attached to the tubes 16 and 22 via the fittings 52. The sides of the netting accordingly conform to the curvature of the tubes 16 and 22. As shown in FIG. 1, as a result the netting 50 is formed into a concave or inward curving section 60 between the bottom tubes 22, and into a convex or outward curving section 62 between the top tubes 16. The concave and convex shape of the netting influences the rebound characteristics of the net 10. The user may accordingly achieve a desired ball rebound trajectory and speed by throwing the ball to make contact with a specific area of the netting 50.

Thus, a novel practice net has been shown and described. Various changes and use of substitutions may of course be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The invention therefore should not be limited except by the following claims and their equivalents. 

1. A net comprising: a frame having convex lower tubes and concave upper tubes; netting attached to the frame, with the netting between the lower tubes having a concave shape, and with the netting between the upper tubes having a convex shape.
 2. The net of claim 1 further comprising a stand assembly pivotally attached to the frame.
 3. The net of claim 1 with the lower tubes having a radius of curvature of 68 to 88 cm over an arc of 30 to 60 degrees.
 4. The net of claim 1 with the netting removably attached to the frame via multiple spaced apart fittings.
 5. The net of claim 4 with the frame comprising hollow tubes and the fittings comprising clips.
 6. The net of claim 2 with the stand holding the frame upright an angle of 50 to 75 degrees.
 7. A net comprising: a frame having left and right side tubes attached to top and bottom sections, with the left and right side tubes forming an S-shape, netting attached to the frame and having a concave shape adjacent to the bottom section and a convex shape adjacent to the top section; and a stand attached to the frame.
 8. The net of claim 7 with the frame having a vertical midpoint and with the netting substantially flat at the vertical midpoint.
 9. The net of claim 8 with the stand pivotable on the frame from a first position where a lower end of the stand is adjacent to or in contact with the bottom tube, to a second position where the stand is at an angle of 80 to 100 degrees from an axis extending through the vertical midpoint of the frame.
 10. The net of claim 7 with the left and right side tubes each divided into a top tube and a bottom tube, with the top tube substantially a mirror image of the bottom tube.
 11. The net of claim 7 with left and right side tubes having substantially straight left and right stand tube segments, respectively, and with the stand pivotally attached to the left and right stand tube segments. 